II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5245 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide Presidential and 

Vice Presidential candidates with a justification for candidate protection 

determinations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide 

Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates with a justification for candidate protection determinations, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Counter Secretary 

5 Negligence In Protecting Election Runners Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘Counter SNIPER Act’’. 


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2 

•S 5245 IS

1 SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL CAN2 DIDATE PROTECTION. 

3 Section 3056 of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(h)(1) If the Secretary of Homeland Security deter6 mines that a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate 

7 requesting a protective detail or an increase in assigned 

8 protective detail resources is not eligible for the protective 

9 detail or increased protective detail resources under this 

10 section, not later than 14 days after the date on which 

11 the Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate makes the 

12 request, the Secretary shall submit to the Presidential or 

13 Vice Presidential candidate and the advisory committee 

14 described in subsection (a)(7) a written notice of the de15 termination that indicates the criteria that the Presi16 dential or Vice Presidential candidate fails to meet for 

17 such purpose. 

18 ‘‘(2) A Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate 

19 may submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security a writ20 ten request to reconsider a determination described in 

21 paragraph (1), which may include facts to support that 

22 the Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate meets the 

23 criteria indicated by the Secretary of Homeland Security 

24 in the notice described in paragraph (1). 


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3 

•S 5245 IS

1 ‘‘(3) Not later than 14 days after the date on which 

2 a request for reconsideration is submitted under para3 graph (2), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) review the request; 

5 ‘‘(B) submit to the Presidential or Vice Presi6 dential candidate a written notice of the final deter7 mination of the Secretary on whether the Presi8 dential or Vice Presidential candidate meets the cri9 teria for the purpose of this section; and 

10 ‘‘(C) provide to the advisory committee de11 scribed in subsection (a)(7) a copy of the final deter12 mination described in subparagraph (B). 

13 ‘‘(i)(1) The United States Secret Service shall be 

14 headed by a Director. 

15 ‘‘(2) The Director of the United States Secret Service 

16 shall be appointed by the President with the advice and 

17 consent of the Senate.’’. 

Æ 


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